Coin-freed delivery apparatus



H. BROOKER.

COIN FREED DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 050.27, 1920.

1,398,766. atenteaN v.'29,19 21.

2 sHEEfs-SHEET 2.

* EJMEED stares ears at series,

HENRY BROOKEB, OF GOODM-AYES; ENGLAND.

COIN-FREED DELIVERY APPARATUS.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent-e d 'Nov. 29 1921'.

I A lication-filed necemb'erj'ev, 1920. Serial no. 433,403.

To all whom z'tmay concern: I

Be it known that I, HENRY BROOKER, a

subject of the King of Great Britainand Ireland, residing at Goodmayes, in the county of" Essex, England, whose 'post-ofiice address is 43 Gastleton road, Goodmayes, in the county of Essex, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inand Relating to Coin-Freed Delivery Apparatus,

(for which I filed an application for patent.

in Great Britain on January 28, 1919 andI do hereby declare the following'to be a full; clear, and exact description ofthe invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it-appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relatesprincipally to the type of coin-freed delivery apparatus in.

which mechanism is energized or wound up and thus set in condition for the automatic delivery of an article, for instance a -ticket, abox of'matches, packet of sweets, or' other article, by the insertion of a predetermined coin or coins, the coin or coins inserted also effecting the release of the mechanism which. then acts to deliver the articlefrom the ma'-' chine. I V

In a machine according to this invention tickets or other articles to be delivered'by' the machine are arranged in a column or pile on the top of which column a weighted follower may be placed, the tickets or articles and follower being maintained and-working in a suitable guide-way or frame. 7

The invention has for its object an improved delivery mechanism which, although particularly designed for delivering rail-' way and like tickets from machines in which a plurality of coins .Ofthe same" or different values are or may beinserted to set the chine in condition for the'delivery' of the ticket, may be employed in other forms of coin-freed apparatus and is suitable for de livering other articles, and which is certain and reliable in its action, is simple in construction, andrelatively. light in weight.

The invention further consists in tl1e construction, combination and arrangement of parts as pointed out in the .claims, or as hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which',- i

Figure 1 is asideelevation of a delivery mechanism according to this invention adapted to deliver card-board or paste board tickets such as those used on railways,

of'a main lever hereinafter for the sake plates or strips -Fig..2'is a plan ofthe delivery mechanism shown in Fig. l, and

3,4 and 5 are respectively plan, side elevation and end elevation of a guidewayfor the moving'frameor carriage of the delivery mechanism hereinafter described.

Like reference numbers indicate like parts 1n the several figures of thedrawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the front plate of the casing of the machine and f 2 a cross plate providing support for oer-i ta-in parts of theimechanism. The plate 2 is e n PIVOtBC]; at or No. 141,135, or may be'of anyother convenient construction. The tickets which. of clearness are not. shown in the drawings are supported in a'pil'e or column by thetfront plate ofthe machine and provided with a pair of slots-or cut away portions 5, 5,v

and suitable upright members or guides are providedto keep the tickets properly in col -umn,as shown four angle pieces or 'uprights 6 secured together by front and back, 7, 8 respectively and side plates orstrips 9, 9,.th'e latter being in turn secured to'the front'plate 1 ofthe machine. The pair of. angle pieces" or uprights 6 toward therear'of the machine have their rear memberscut away at their lowerends as indicated in dottedli'nesat-6 Fig. 1, to permit withdrawal of the'lolwermost ticket of" the pile or column, as will be hereinafter described. Pivot ally mounted on a pin 10 secured to the lower end of lever 3 is a U,-

a bottom plate 4 secured'to' fication of my British Letters Patent shaped frame 11, the forward end ofwhich is provided with a cross bar 12 the extreme end port'ionsof which rest on lower guide plates or members 13, 13 suitably secured in a fixed position in the machine. As shown one of the guide members 13 is fixed to the front plate land the other'to' the transverse plate 2. Each guide member 13 carries an upper guide member lfo'rmed by a portion of spring metal of the desired shape, the

member 14: being secured to member 13 by screws such as 15, and having its forward end 1 k bent downwardly in a gentle curve so as to touch, or nearly touch, the guide surface of the member 13. The frame 11 is provided with front and rear ticket engaging projections or members 16, 17, the front members 16 being suitably mounted on a cross bar 16 whose downturned ends 16 are mounted on and secured close to the ends of the cross-bar 12 so as not to turn or revolve in relation thereto, and the rear projections or members 17 being suitably secured in place on and being carried by a pair of cross bars 18 of the frame 11 which pass through holes in tail portions 17 18 are ferrules or distance pieces on the cross bars 18.

A suitably fixed plate or guideway 19 is provided and secured to the front plate 1 of the machine by means of a downwardly turned portion 19. The forward portion of the guide plate 19 is horizontal while the rear portion slopes upwardly. Suitable slots 20, 20, and 21 are cut in the rear portion of the guide plate 19, the slots 20, 20 being to accommodate the upstanding projections or members 17 on the moving frame 11, and the slot 21 to accommodate an upstanding cam 22 also mounted on the cross bars 18 and thus carried by the moving frame 11, which is adapted in the operation of the machine to act on and raise a plate 23 pivotally mounted at 24 on the guide plate 19. This plate 23 is provided with a slot extending from the pivotal edge approximately half-way toward its forward edge, the slot being in Fig. 2 coincident with the rear portion of the slot 21. 25 is a stop to limit the upward movement of the plate 23. If desired a suitable spring may be provided tending to press the plate 23 clownwardly.

The forward portion of the guide plate 19 is so arranged'that its upper surface 00- incides or registers exactly with the lower surface of the ticket delivery slot 26 in the front plate 1 of the machine and said forward portion of the plate 19 has upturned sides or edges which in turn have secured to them inwardly projecting portions 19 between which and the plate 19 the ticket passes to the delivery slot 26. The rear or sloping portion of the plate 19 also has its sides or edges upturned but these upturned portions are carried upwardly to form side guides or wings 19. It will be understood that the parts 19 may if desired be formed integral with the plate 19. A suitable weight or follower may, and preferably would, be provided on top of the pile or column of tickets.

The working of the mechanism illustrated is as follows The insertion of the correct coin or coins engage the forward edge of the bottom ticket of the pile or column of-ticketsresting on plate 4; The rearward movement of the lever 3 and frame 11 may be one continuous movement or may be in steps or stages according to whether one or a plurality of coins are employed to set the machine and cause delivery of a ticket, but the operation of the delivery mechanism is the same in either case. In the rearward movement of the frame 11 the ends of the cross-bar 12 travel along the top of the guide members 1 1 and the projections 16 draw the bottom ticket rearwardly and under the pivotal plate 23. The cam 22 of course moves rearwardly with the frame 11 and by the time the ticket is clear of the plate the cam 22 will have ceased to support the plate 23, having passed into the slot in the plate, and the plate will fall by its own weight (or it may be assisted by a spring) on to the ticket and press same on to the rearward or sloping portions of the guide way 19. In the final portion of the rearward movement of the frame 11 the ends of the cross bar 12 pass off the rear ends of the upper guide members 1 1 and drop on to the lower guide members 13, which causes the projections 16 also to drop or move downwardly, so that in the return movement of the frame 11.the ends of the cross bar 12 travel along the lower guideway 13 lifting and moving past the down turned ends ll of the upper guide members 14 in the final portion of the forward movement. The return or forward movement of the lever 3 and frame 11 take place automatically, being moved by a returning spring connected to lever 3 or other means,when the coins fall or otherwise act on a trip or other release mecha-v nism. In such return or forward movement of the frame 11 the ticket-just withdrawn from the bottom of the pile or column is moved forwardly by the projections 17 engaging its rearward edge and in its forward movement it abuts against the rearward edge of the ticket previously withdrawn (which is lying on the guide 19 below the pile or column of tickets) and ejects same through the ticket deliveryslot 26, the ticket last withdrawn from the pile remaining in the machine. In the return or forward movement of the framell the cam 22 acts on the pivoted plate 23 and moves same upwardly so that it again takes the position shown in Fig. 1', the other parts of the delivery mechanism also returning to the positions shown in Fig. 1. 1

It will beunderstood, that; when set for coin-freed operation the frame 11 would be operated once by hand so that a ticket is set in position in the guideway 19. ready to be ejected by the ticket" withdrawn from the column or pile when the machine is first operated by the insertion of the coin or coins, and that thereafter a ticket will always be in the guideway ready for .delivery.

If desired suitable anti-friction rollers or like devices may be provided for easing the movements of the frame 11. For instance anti-friction rollers might be provided on the ends of the cross-bar 12 to prevent friction of said ends on the guides 13 and 14.

The mechanism above described and illustrated in the drawings, subject of course to the necessary modifications, as for instance in the size and shape of the guideway, is suitable for delivery of other articles than tickets, such for instance as packets of cigarettes, sweetmeats, matches, etc., and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the delivery of tickets. The invention is also not limited to the details of construction shown in the drawings as these might be varied without departing from the main features of the invention.

That I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a delivery apparatus, a support for a pile of articles, a guideway for the articles.

havlng a main portion arranged under the said support and havlng an extension which projects at the rear ofthe support, and a slidable delivery device provided with front and rear projections which operate alternately to slide the bottom article from under the pile and discharge it onto the said extension when moved rearwardly, and to slide the article off the extension onto the main portion of the guideway when moved forwardly, whereby the article thus moved forwardly is enabled to push a similar article, previously moved forwardly, from the guideway.

2. In a delivery apparatus, a support for a pile of articles, a guideway for the articles having a substantially horizontal main portion arranged under the said support and havin an upwardly and rearwardly inclined extension arranged to the rear of the support, and a slidable delivery device provided with front and rear projections which operate alternately to slide the bottom article from under the pile and discharge it onto the said extension when moved rearwardly, and to slide the article ofl the exa pile of articles, a slotted guideway for the articles having a mam portion arrangedv under the said support and: having an extension: which. projects at the. rear of the support, and a: slidable. delivery device arranged below the said guideway and having front and rear projections which project up,- wardly through its slots and which operate alternately to slide the bottom article from under the pile and discharge it onto the said extension when moved rearwardly, and to slide the article off the extension onto the main portion of the guideway when moved forwardly.

4. In a delivery apparatus, a support for a pile of articles, a guideway for the articles having a main portion arranged under the said support and having an extension which projects at the rear of the support, a slidable delivery member, a crossbar provided with front projections for engaging with the front edge of the bottom article of the pile, said crossbar being arranged above the said guideway and operatively] connected with the said delivery member, and rear projections on the said delivery member for engaging with the rear edge of an article discharged from the pile, said front projec-' tions operating to discharge the bottom article from the pile onto the saidextension,

pressing the article downwardly upon the said extension before the article is slid forwardly off it and onto the main portion of the said guideway. I v

6. The combination, with a delivery apparatus as set forth in claim 1, of a plate pivoted to the rearend portion of the said extension and operating to press the article downwardly upon it before the said article is slid forwardly onto the main portion of the said guideway.

7. The combination, with a delivery apparatus as set forth in claim 1, of a plate pivotally supported by the said extension and operating to press the article downwardly upon it before the article-is slid fordevices for the said slidable delivery device which constrain it to slide in two superposed planes so that its projections do not engage with the bottom article of the pile during its forward movement.

9. The combination, with a delivery apparatus as set forth in claim 1, of lower guides which support the said slidable delivery device during its forward movement, and upper guides having inclined front end portions which operate to raise the said delivery device at the commencement of its" rearward movement so that its front projections may engage with the bottom article of the pile.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY BROOKER.

lVitnesses:

lV. H. SIMPSON, W. Boon. 

